Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and other 67 newly elected MLAs took oath as members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly as a three-day session began on Monday. Janakpuri MLA Rajesh Rishi could not take oath on Monday because he was not in town and will now take oath on Tuesday.
This is the first Assembly session after the Aam Aadmi Party formed the government for the third time. AAP MLA Ram Niwas Goel was also unanimously elected as the speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly for the second consecutive time. Greater Kailash MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj took oath in the name of “Bajrang Bali Hanuman” and raised slogans of “Jai Hanuman” after the oath. Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha, who came dressed in traditional attire, took oath in Maithili language.
The oath-taking process started with CM Kejriwal, followed by his deputy Sisodia, environment minister Gopal Rai, health minister Satyendar Jain, transport minister Kailash Gahlot and other legislators.
Matia Mahal MLA Shoaib Iqbal, who was appointed pro-tem speaker, oversaw the oath-taking ceremony in the House. A few hours before the start of the first session on Monday, Iqbal took oath at the L-G office. Later, Shahdara MLA Ram Niwas Goel was unanimously elected as the speaker of Assembly for the second consecutive term.
While Tilak Nagar MLA Jarnail Singh took oath in Punjabi, another AAP MLA Rajesh Gupta took oath in the name of his mother and father. MLAs Rohit Mehroliya took oath in the name of Maharishi Valmiki. Raghav Chadha, Atishi Marlena and Dilip Pandey were among first time MLAs who took oath as the members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly.
BJP’s Badarpur MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, who was elected as Leader of Opposition earlier on Monday, hugged Iqbal after taking oath. Bidhuri and Iqbal were first elected to Delhi Assembly in 1993.
The seventh Delhi Legislative Assembly was constituted after the Aam Aadmi Party won 62 seats in the 70-member House. The BJP won eight seats, while the Congress drew a blank.
